just immediate needs but also future needs for future storms and even unrelated issues not related to sandy. the coats alternative, which i hope to gain support for, documents what is needed, takes that documentation provided by fema, s.b.a., all the agencies involved and more than generously compensates for what is needed between now and the end of march. mr. schumer: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new york. mr. schumer: thank you, mr. president. and first i want to say i appreciate the true concern that my colleague from indiana and those who have put this amendment together have shown. you're not just giving us the back of yew hand and saying you don't need it or wait three months or what. -- or whatever. unfortunately, though, it would just stop dead in its tracks the recovery effort so desperately needed. you cannot plan a recovery on a three-month basis. the bottom line is, if you want to build a tunnel, you can't say i'll build a fifth now and we'll see if there's more money later. if you need to build a berm of six feed feet, you sant say we'll build six feet